India-Israel bonhomie can boost China-Pakistan ties: Daily

Islamabad, July 13 (IANS) Growing Indo-Israeli military ties could push Pakistan and China to further forge defence cooperation, a Pakistani commentator said in remarks published on Thursday.

“India’s hectic efforts to enhance its military ties with Israel will probably make Pakistan and China foster their economic and defence cooperation in the region,” independent researcher Ayaz Ahmed said in The News International newspaper.

“Both Pakistan and China have recently come so close to each other that it appears rather elusive for India to pursue its hegemonic designs in the Indian Ocean region.

“The more India militarily partners with other countries, the more Sino-Pakistan partnership becomes stronger to block Indian disruptive objectives in South Asia.” Ahmed added, in the wake of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s path-breaking visit to Israel this month.

Ahmed said India’s decision to embrace Israel was also likely to turn the growing Indo-Iranian relations hostile.

“If the Modi government continues to further cement military ties with Israel, Iran will probably hand over the strategically-important Chabahar Port to China and thereby shatter India’s dreams to access the energy-rich Central Asia,” the commentary said.

“Pakistan should capitalise on the Indo-Israel bonhomie to bolster its relations with Iran and coordinate with Tehran to highlight the gross human rights violations being committed in Kashmir and Palestine.”